AIDS pandemic: The head of Brazil's AIDS program says the government will violate patents on anti-AIDS drugs by copying them, citing unsustainable increases in cost. (BBC)
Serbia's interior minister says the "assassination attempt" on president Boris Tadić was a case of road rage against his motor convoy in Belgrade traffic. (Reuters)
CBS and NBC refuse to air an advertisement by the United Church of Christ citing the advocacy of accepting homosexuals is "too controversial". The advertisement was accepted by numerous other networks including Fox, ABC and TBS. (CNN)(UCC)
A French appeals court reduces former Prime MinisterAlain Juppé's disqualification from holding public office from ten years to one, opening up the way for him to contend in the 2007 presidential election. (BBC)
Côte d'Ivoire conflict: French officials acknowledge troops killed around 20 people during clashes with anti-French protestors, but maintain the French troops acted in self-defense and gave warning shots, contrary to Ivoirian police claims. (BBC)
Rwandan troops are spotted by UN personnel in eastern Congo where Congolese officials say the troops are attacking and burning villages. The last invasion started the Congo Civil War, which resulted in the deaths of 3-4 million people. (Reuters)
David Blunkett, U.K.Home Secretary, insists that he did no wrong in the controversy surrounding the alleged misuse of his position, and receives the backing of Prime MinisterTony Blair. Sir Alan Budd is appointed to carry out an independent enquiry. (BBC)
Iran's nuclear program: United Nations inspectors wishing to inspect the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran and Lavizan II in northeastern Tehran lack the legal authority according to United Nations diplomats. (Reuters)
British Member of Parliament and anti-war activist George Galloway wins his libel case against the Daily Telegraph, which during the invasion of Iraq had published a story suggesting that Galloway had been in the pay of Saddam Hussein. (BBC)
Yukos loses an appeal to halt the auctioning off of its main production unit. President of RussiaVladimir Putin, while on his three day visit to India, says Indian firms are welcomed to bid. (BBC)
A car bomb explodes outside a Shi'a mosque in a BaghdadSunni district, killing 14 worshippers and wounding 19. Mortars land on a police station in Baghdad, followed by an assault which kills 12 people and results in the freeing of 50 prisoners. A website allegedly tied to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claims responsibility for the police station attack. (BBC)(Reuters) (Link dead as of 04:01, 15 January2007 (UTC))
Former Israeli chief Rabbi and Holocaust survivor Meir Lau says that "Jewish history in Europe is nearing its end" and called the Jewish Agency to prepare for the absorption of Europe's Jews in Israel. Lau conveyed concern over rise in antisemitism and fading of the Holocaust remembrance in Europe.(Haaretz) (Link dead as of 04:01, 15 January2007 (UTC))
Rwanda denies it has sent any troops to Congo. Reuters (Link dead as of 04:01, 15 January2007 (UTC))quotes unnamed diplomatic sources that claim that the troops were there only temporarily. (BBC)(Reuters) (Link dead as of 04:01, 15 January2007 (UTC))
Typhoon Nanmadol slams into the island of Luzon in the Philippines, less than a week after tropical depression locally called "Winnie" caused landslides and floods in the region also affected by the earlier typhoons Muifa and Merbok. Floods and landslides by Winnie killed at least 495 persons. More people are expected to be declared missing or dead as typhoon Nanmadol leaves the country later today. (CNN)(Inquirer/GMA7)
Dissident investors in Disney, including former board member Roy Disney, nephew of the company founder Walt Disney, announced that they won't nominate a slate of alternate directors for the 2005 annual meeting. The announcement is a sign of an easing of tensions at that corporation's board. thestreet.com
The Mozambiquepresidential election vote count continues in all of the country, with Frelimo and its candidate Armando Guebuza leading, according to the preliminary results already known, and especially in Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane, traditional regions of influence for the party in power. (Wikinews)
A referendum in Hungary to grant citizenship to ethnic Hungarians living in other countries appears to have failed due to insufficient turnout. The proposal has angered the governments of countries with significant Hungarian populations, particularly Romania. The Prime Minister of Hungary, Ferenc Gyurcsány, opposed the referendum. (Reuters)
Hundreds gather at the Ohio statehouse to demand a recount of votes, citing fraud that took votes from John Kerry and gave them to George W. Bush. (AP)
A lawsuit challenging the Volusia County, Florida election is thrown out for being a day late. The suit claims paperwork is missing from 59 of Volusia's 179 precincts and that precinct printouts show different numbers. (AP)
More than 20 are killed and many more injured in a series of attacks on Iraqis working for the United States by Iraqi insurgents today. (ABC)(BBC)(Reuters)
In a Prisoner exchange between Israel and Egypt, Egypt releases Azzam Azzam, an Israeli Druze businessman sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by Egypt in 1997 on charges of spying for Israel, while Israel releases 6 Egyptian students who allegedly infiltrated Israel to kidnap soldiers. (Haaretz)(BBC)
The U.S.consular compound in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia is stormed by gunmen, who kill nine Saudis in a four-hour battle but do not gain entry to the consulate building itself. Saudi security forces kill three of the gunmen, arrest two others, and pursue several more. There are no Americans dead, though some are slightly wounded. (BBC)(Reuters/AFP)
The United States Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of state laws that block merchants from shipping wine across state lines. Affected businesses and consumers claim that such laws are invalid under the commerce clause, long held to ban a state's discrimination against interstate commerce.
An entire Israeli Army elite unit has been suspended from duty while investigations continue into what B'Tselem alleges was a killing of an unnarmed injured Palestinian man. (BBC)
In a sworn affidavit Monday, a former programmer for a NASA contractor said that he developed a vote-rigging prototype at the request of a then-Florida state representative, Tom Feeney, who is now a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. (Blue Lemur)(bradblog)
The Israeli government indicates that it will recognize same-sex partnerships for certain benefits, and will introduce legislation formalizing this status. (365gay.com)
